I read Tim Nesbitt’s opinion on a minimum wage health care program in the Health Care for all Oregonians Digest. As a member of the Oregon Education Association and longtime labor union advocate, I must voice my negative reaction to his idea.

The problem with health care delivery in this country is that it is tied to employment and forces employers to bear the brunt of paying for health insurance. As long as that is the case, there will be a battle between business and labor — even businesses that want to do the right thing.

The only solution is a universal single-payer system such as that utilized in Canada and most of the rest of the developed First World countries. That way, everyone shares in the costs, even “malwart,” and health care doesn’t take up so much time at the bargaining table. We could then focus on job security, workplace conditions, wages, retirement, and any number of other issues.

As it is, we spend way too much time just trying to get care that workers in France, Germany, England, Italy, Canada, etc., take for granted.

When Measure 23 was on the ballot in 2002, I worked very hard for it only to have my own union, the OEA, come out against it. I immediately contacted my local president and stopped my PAC portion of my dues. I will not contribute any PAC money to my union, or any other, until they come out for universal single-payer health care for all!

Read Bartlett and Steele’s excellent book “Critical condition” and you will come to the same conclusion.

Dan Welton
Oregon Education Association
Lane Community College
Eugene